Portable door latch



Jan. 26, 1937.

J. HOLLAND PORTABLE DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 26, 1934 4 2 Sheets-Sheet l IINVENTOR JZ/Vffi /7'0LLA/VD law ATTORNEY J. HOLLAND PORTABLE DOOR LATCHJan. 26, 1937.

Filed Deg. 26, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR fiML-S #01 LAND $4M 7%. MI A T T ORNE Y Patented Jan. 26, 1937 UNETED STATES ATENT OFFICE 1Claim.

This invention relates to a door lock and particularly pertains to aportable latch therefor.

It is desirable when traveling and otherwise to provide simple andeffective means which may be applied to a door and which will lock thedoor independently of any key operated locking means with which the dooris equipped. This prevents the door from being opened from the outsideand insure security and privacy for the occupant of a room. It is theobject of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensivelatch structure which is of small compass, may be easily carried in thepocket or purse, and instantly applied to a door in an operativeposition without the use of tools, and will when the door is locked holdthe door in its locked positon until released from the inside of thedoor, and without the possibility of being moved or operated from theoutside of the door.

The invention contemplates the provision of a wedge member and a keeper,the wedge being capable of being disposed in a position between thevertical edge of a door jamb and the vertical face of a door post, andto be forced into a position with relation to the post as the door isclosed, the keeper being mounted upon the portion of the wedge memberprojecting into the room to be locked, and being capable of manipulationto move the keeper from an unlocked to a locked position with relationto the door, irrespective of whether or not the face of the door isflush or inset with relation to the door frame.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary view in perspective showing the application ofone form of the present invention to a door of the inset type and in anunlatched position.

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation showing a fragmentary portion of adoor and a door post showing one form of the latch structure in itslocking position.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan showing the latch structure with the keeperindicated by solid lines in its locked position and by dotted lines inits unlocked position.

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing another form of the inventionindicating the locked posi tion of the keeper in dotted lines and theunlocked position in solid lines.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective showing the invention with a differentform of keeper and indicating the device with the keeper out of itslocked position.

Fig. 6 is a view in vertical section showing the keeper in its lockedposition.

Fig. 7 is a View in perspective showing the wedge member and the keeperassembled in an inoperative position, such as would be the case when theentire latch device is to be carried in a pocket or purse.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I0 indicates a jamb of adoor II which is adapted to swing into a closed position with relationto a door frame, the post I2 of which is here shown. In some types ofdoors the face of the post will be flush with the face of the jamb ofthe door, and in that instance there would be no difficulty in applyinga portable latch of the present character. Other doors, however, aremade with an offset face I3 which causes the door to set in from theface so that the face I4 of the door jamb II] will be in a differentplane from the face I3 of the door post. In such cases the presentdevice is particularly applicable, since its construction is such as toinsure that the keeper may easily fit against the face I4 of the doorjamb irrespective of the position of the face I3 of the door post. Inthe preferred form of the invention, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 7 ofthe drawings, a wedge plate I5 is provided to assume an edgewiseposition between the contiguous faces I6 and I! of the door jamb andpost, respectively. llhis plate is relatively thin in width and has itsgreater sectional dimensions extending vertically. At the end of theplate I5 which occurs between the faces I6 and I! of the door and thedoor frame a laterally extending blade I8 is provided. This blade issupposed to be forced into the wood of the face I! of the post I2 as thedoor is closed, since the length of the blade l8 plus the thickness ofthe plate I5 is greater than the distance which normally occurs betweenthe edge I6 of a door and the face I! of a door post. In some instancesit may be desirable to secure the plate I5 in position permanently, andfor that reason screw holes I9 are provided to permit the plate to bescrewed against the face I! of the door post. The opposite end of theplate I5 from the end carrying the blade I8 projects into the room to belocked and projects beyond the face I4 of the door. Attention isdirected to the fact that it is not necessary to satisfactory operationthat this member project beyond the face I3 of the door post. Thisprojecting end is hooked-shape as indicated at 20, and comprises alaterally extending portion 2| and an end portion 22 which is bentparallel to the body of the plate I5 and extends toward the blade I8.The terminating edge of the member 22 is substantially in the plane ofthe face I5 of the door when the door is closed. Mounted upon the hookportion Ell is a keeper 23. In Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive of the drawings,the keeper is shown as having an upper horizontal portion 24 with whichlegs 25 and 26 are integrally formed. A straight slot 27 occurs betweenthese legs, the slot being of a width substantially equal to thethickness of the plate I5 so that the keeper may be moved upwardly anddownwardly on the plate from a locking to a non-locking position andvice versa. The leg 25 is substantially twice the vertical height of thesection of the wedge plate I5. The lower end of the leg 25 is fittedwith a laterally extending stop 28 which extends toward the leg 25 andstands in a partially obstructing position across the bottom of the slot21. Thus when the keeper is lifted to the top of its intended movementthe stop 28 will engage the under side of the plate I5 and limit furtherlifting movement of the keeper. The leg 25 of the keeper is of a lengthgreater than the vertical height of the plate I5 but does. not extend tothe bottom thereof. This insures that the lower portion of the keeperwill not stand in a bridging relation to the crank 29 which occursbetween the faces I5 and ll of the door and the door frame,respectively. By this arrangement it is insured that a person on theoutside of the door could not insert a thin instrument in the door crack29 and engage the lower end of the keeper to lift the keeper from itsseat and its locking position. The portion of the leg 25 which extendsbelow the plate I5 when the keeper is in its lower position is formedalong its inner edge with a curved face 36 which makes it possible forthe keeper to be turned, using the lower portion of the leg 25 as anaxis when the keeper has been raised to its uppermost position. By thisarrangement it will be seen that when the keeper is in its lowermostposition and the curved face v30 is below the edge of the wedge plate I5the keeper cannot be rotated.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings the wedgeplate I5 is provided but with it a different form of keeper is used.This comprises a lower portion 3! which extends upwardly between thefaces of the plate I5 and the rearwardly turned hooked portion 22, andwhen in its uppermost position is limited by a T-shaped head 32 carriedon its bottom end. When the T-shaped head 32 abuts against the lowerface of the plate I5 the keeper member 3| is of a length to extend abovethe upper face of the plate I5 and to provide a pivot 33 for a lock lug311 which may be swung laterally to locking and non-locking positions.The lock lug 34. is formed at its free end with a T-shaped head 35 sothat when the lug 34 is swung to a vertically aligned position withrelation to the keeper portion 3! the entire keeper structure may movedownwardly until it hangs on the head 35. At such a time the lock willbe inoperative.

In the form of the device shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings avariation of the structure shown in Fig. 4 is disclosed, although thesame wedge plate I5 is provided. The keeper in this instance comprises alower T head 35 carried at the bottom of a keeper bar 31 which is of alength slightly in excess of twice the vertical height of the wedgeplate I5. An overhanging head portion 38 occurs at the upper end of thekeeper bar 3! and is formed integral with a downwardly projecting member39 spaced from the bar 37 to form an intermediate slot 40 of a widthslightly in excess of the thickness of the wedge plate I5. The member 39has an offset extension 4| which may project downwardly between theplate I5 and its hooked portion 22 as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of thedrawings. Here it will be seen that the space between the plate I5 andthe hooked portion 22 is substantially equal to the combined widths ofthe bar 3?, the slot 40, and the extension M. A shoulder occurs betweenthe main portion of the member 39 and the extension II as indicated at42. When the keeper is not in a locked position the keeper rests uponthis shoulder as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6. When the keeper is tobe placed in a locking position the keeper is lifted and moved sidewaysuntil the bar 31 and the extension M will straddle the plate I5 afterwhich the keeper may be moved downwardly to the locking positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6.

In operation of the present invention, and referring particularly to theform of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and 7, inclusive, it will beseen that when the structure is not in use the keeper may be nestedwithin the plate I5 as indicated in Fig. 7, and that afterwards theparts may be separated and assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When thekeeper 23 has been mounted upon the wedge plate I5 it is preferablydisposed with its major width lying in a plane parallel to that in whichthe plate I5 lies with the short leg 26 of the keeper extendingoutermost. When in this assembled relation, as shown particularly inFig. 1, the plate I5 may be extended horizontally across the face I Iof-the door post until the inner edge of the member 22 of the plate hook20 abuts against a face I3 of the door post, whether this face isinset-or flush. The door may then be closed. The face I6 of the doorjamb will then engage the smooth back face of the plate I5 and willforce the blade I8 into the face ll of the door post. This will hold theplate against removal. If, however, it is considered desirable tomaintain the plate in its mounted position screws may be passed throughthe openings I9 and into the door post. After the plate has beenpositioned in engagement with the door post and the door has been closedthe keeper 23 may be moved to a locking position by first lifting thekeeper while it is in the aligned position shown in Fig. 1, and asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and then rotating the keeper untilit is in a transverse position, as shown by solid lines in Fig. 3. Thekeeper may then be moved downwardly again with the legs 25 and 2Bstraddling the plate I5. The upper bar 24 of the keeper will bridge thecrack of the door and will hold the keeper so that the door cannot beopened since the keeper obstructs its movement. When it is desired tounlock the door the keeper is lifted and then rotated, after which thedoor will swing clear of the plate I5.

In the form of the device shown in Fig. 4 the plate is installed in thesame manner as previously described, and normally the keeper is disposedwith its two members SI and 34 in vertical alignment and in theirlowermost position hanging from the head 35. When it is desired to lockthe door the keeper may be drawn upwardly until a pivot 33 clears, afterwhich it may be swung to a lateral position in a manner to stand in anobstructing position and prevent the door from being opened. In the formof the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings the keeper isoriginally in the position shown in Fig. 5 so that the door might swingalong the flat back face of the plate [5, after which the keeper may belifted and moved over to straddle the plate l5 and to drop downwardly toa locking position.

It will thus be seen that the lock here disclosed is quite simple in itsconstruction, being made of two parts which may be easily assembled foroperation, and readily applied to and removed from looking position withrelation to a door.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, as now known tome, it will be understood that various changes might be made in thecombination, construction, and arrangement of parts, by those skilled inthe art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

A portable door latch including a wedge member in the form of a fiatplate having adjacent I to one end a transversely disposed blade andhaving at its other end an angular portion and a reverting extension onsaid angular portion terminating in a free edge and spaced from andparalleling the plate to form with the same a squared socket open at oneside toward the blade end of the plate, and a keeper plate having a pairof legs and a portion connecting said legs at one end and spacing thesame apart, one of said legs being squared and of a size to slidablyinterfit lengthwise of the squared socket of the wedge plate when thelatch is in operative position, the space between said legs adapting thekeeper to selectively straddle the upper edge of the wedge plate and thesaid angular portion thereof in use, and the keeper plate being of athickness to nest flatwise against the wedge plate with one end thereofextending beneath the said reverting extension and into the socketthrough the open side of the latter when the latch is removed fromoperative position.

JAMES HOLLAND.

